Chapter 9
Miriam asked to speak to Garrett alone.
I said no.
She looked at me.
“I survived his shoe.”
My jaw tightened.
Not funny.
She almost smiled.
“Sit outside.”
I hated it.
I agreed.
The door remained open.
Barely.
I heard enough.
Miriam started simply.
“Why me?”
Garrett did not answer.
She continued.
“You could have asked Alessia.”
“She would say no.”
“So you asked her mother instead.”
Silence.
“You thought I was easier.”
“No.”
“Then why kick me?”
Garrett’s voice broke slightly.
“Because you looked at me like I was pathetic.”
My mother sighed.
“I looked at you like I was disappointed.”
“That’s worse.”
I understood that.
Miriam had treated Garrett kindly for years.
Defended him when older Carbones called him an outsider.
Helped him learn our family rituals.
Her disapproval mattered.
Maybe too much.
“You lied to me using my daughter’s name,” Miriam said.
“Yes.”
“You pressured me for months.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to turn captains against her.”
“Yes.”
“And tonight you kicked me because I would not hand you a seal that was never yours.”
Silence.
Then Garrett whispered:
“Yes.”
No excuses.
Good.
Miriam’s next question surprised me.
“Did you ever love her?”
My whole body went still.
Garrett answered immediately.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
That hurt differently.
Because love had existed.
Maybe still did.
Miriam continued.
“Then why did you need to become her?”
“I didn’t.”
“You wanted her chair.”
“That isn’t becoming her.”
“No.”
My mother’s voice softened.
“It is worse. You stopped knowing where you ended and her power began.”
Silence.
That sentence stayed with me.
Marriage had blurred Garrett’s identity.
Every room respected him because of me.
Every order he gave carried part of my name.
Eventually he could no longer tell whether people obeyed Garrett or Alessia’s husband.
May you like
Instead of building something separate, he tried to own the source.
Me.
